Chapter 55: Inner Residence
Translator: Transn Editor: Transn
Gu Shenwei had already thought it through, regardless of Slave Qian’s warning.
Mama Xue must have been aiming for something big, or she had a powerful benefactor, and for that reason she dared to frame a plot in Golden Roc Fort. Gu Shenwei thought they should form a union, or even tell her his real identity.
He had considered all of the possibilities, and decided to abandon this plan. The main reason was the non-equivalence of their strength. Telling her the truth would give him nothing more but another handle in Mama Xue’s hand to control him by.
He was only a fifteen-year-old boy, with mediocre Kung Fu, who wanted to slaughter the Shangguan family. Who would “form a union” with him?
Once he lost the value in use, Mama Xue would surely morganize him.
But he had no choice now, and he was eager to know the secrets inside the wooden saber. It might be the Golden Roc Fort’s unique manuscript of their martial arts, or a great fortune. Anyway, it could be helpful for his revenge.
Now he was a man walking on a tightrope. Whether he moved forward or backward, once he took a false step it was all over.
The next afternoon, Slave Huan was sent to the Internal Residence. But it was two women, unknown middle-aged servants, who brought him in instead of Mama Xue.
The servants looked him over on the road, making him feel awkward. He felt relieved when they finally asked him to stay alone in a room.
The Inner Residence was the only one that had a red gate among all the residences inside Golden Roc Fort. Its inside decoration was similar to the outside, except that more plants were on display and it was incredibly furbished. Luxurious ornaments and new furniture made it much better than the dilapidated Western and Eastern Castles.
Gu Shenwei felt strange the whole time he was there. He did not understand this feeling until he realized this residence’s style: It did not look like a place for the “king of killers”, instead, it was more like a land of warmth and tenderness, where a merchant prince and his concubines enjoyed their extravagant life.
Compared to this, the Eastern and Western Castle was more suitable for killers: they had broken stone walls and countless growing weeds that created an atmosphere suitable for killers.
He waited for a long time. He kept standing and dared not sit down. Every time someone walked by, he would bow to them. Finally, two young maids came to him when the evening lights were lit.
The maids acted like the former servants, looking him over directly when they came in as if he were an exotic animal imported from another country.
One of them smiled and said, “Look at him… no wonder the ninth child…”
Gu Shenwei blushed. People thought Shangguan Ru liked him, which was completely wrong. Shangguan Ru was not only too young, but also a girl who thought herself a boy. She wanted to join Jiang Hu, fighting and killing there. She acted more like a real boy than her brother.
The maids led him to cross a series of paths and verandas before entering a larger room, where the floor was covered with thick carpet and the aroma was floating all over the house. Giant candles were burning, luminating the whole house. Crowds of women were laughing presumptuously.
Gu Shenwei recognized who he was going to meet. Therefore he lowered his head, cast his eyes down and moved several steps forward. Before the maid called him, he kneeled down.
“My Lady, this is the slave.”
“Slave Huan bows before Your Lady. May Your Lady be young and healthy forever.”
Howls of laughter erupted around the room. A woman opposite him said,
“Look at this kid. He knows what people want. Now raise up your head.”
Gu Shenwei straightened up, still casting his eyes down. He did so for he saw Supreme King’s lady, the twins’ mother, from the moment he entered.
This lady, who came from Meng family, was only in her 30s and looked very young and gorgeous. The twins resembled her. The customs of Western Region were different from the Central Plain, so the lady needed not to wear a veil before the male servants. Now Gu Shenwei understood why Miss Luo Ningcha, who was too stubborn to unveil herself, could not win her mother-in-law’s favor.
“You look handsome. I assume that’s why Ru wants you to join her adventure in Jiang Hu.”
She was trying to tease him, the group of women laughed again. Gu Shenwei had never seen so many women crowded together. He felt uncomfortable, and dared not to move an inch.
“A traitor! I don’t want him to come.”
It was Shangguan Ru’s voice. She was sitting next to her mother, holding her arms. She appeared angry and turned her head away to avoid seeing him.
On the other side next to the lady was Shangguan Fei. He had a good laugh and made ghostly face at his sister.
“You shall not blame others so casually. Your little escapade was already discovered before your left of the Inner Residence, but we just kept silent. He’s just a kid, and he proved his loyalty by keeping you company. What else do you want?”
“Traitor!”
“Alright, alright. At least he carried you for a half night. He’s good enough. Don’t blame him anymore.”
“Traitor!”
No matter how tenderly the lady tried to comfort her, Shangguan Ru kept a straight face, and spoke out only one word. The “apprentice” refused his “master’s” order? This drove her crazy.
Gu Shenwei kneeled there and said nothing. He thought the twins had grown so lawless under their father’s influence, but now he knew it was because their mother spoiled them. As it was said, whether the offspring were noble depended on their mother, and this lady must be the most beloved one of Supreme King.
Bighead Kingpin’s daughter, Miss Luo Ningcha, wanting to compete with her was like using an egg to strike a stone. Gu Shenwei now felt the Miss was truly foolish.
“Do you want him to be your slave or not? If you don’t, I’ll drive him out now.”
“No. He is a traitor.” Shangguan Ru said without any hesitation.
“If she doesn’t want him, I’ll take him,” Shangguan Fei interrupted. “Slave Huan is good at Kung Fu. He can be my trusted follower.” Slave Huan was supposedly a gift from his eighth brother, Shangguan Nu, but was robbed from him. Now he wanted the gift back.
However, after Shangguan Fei’s words, the sister showed reluctance. She grasped her mother’s hands. “No, I… Well, I’ll keep him, so I can punish this nasty slave.”
“Alright. You can punish your slave as you like.”
As the mother and daughter talked, they completely ignored Slave Huan, as if he was a pet, knowing nothing about human language.
He was dismissed and was accompanied by two maids who were laughing as they carelessly took him to a small room.
As a slave who made a contribution, he was rewarded some plates of pastries. The maids poured the pastries down on the Kang and took the plates away.
There was another boy, 14 or 15, who bowed to the maids when they came in and continued to pack up when they gone, turning his back on Slave Huan.
Gu Shenwei recognized him as Slave Ling, one of the young personal attendants of the twins. Gu Shenwei once stepped on his shoulder and held Shangguan Ru’s foot, letting her peep at the killer’s regular practice.
Gu Shenwei also remained silent. He had seen countless open and secret strife between the slaves, so he had to act carefully. When he was the Gu family’s little master, he never knew such things. He used to think slaves were just slaves. Except for their faces, they had the same temperament and character.
After Slave Ling finished his work, he sat on the edge of the Kang and hung his head, as if he were thinking of something. After a while, he turned back to Slave Huan. “I’m glad you came.”
Gu Shenwei grunted assent. He could see there was no gladness in Slave Ling’s face.
“Since you’ve come, I can go. From now on, I’ll not need to fight with others or practice Kung Fu so hard. I can find a normal master, flatter him and take his beating. Everything has its order. Ah, I’ve been so tired these past years.
“A normal master?” Gu Shenwei repeated the words. He had been a master for 14 years, yet he did not know what “a normal master” meant.
Slave Ling’s face changed. “I don’t mean that. I was just speaking without thinking. I’ll never treat my master…”
“I won’t gossip.”
“Hey, I know you’re different from others. You’re… you’re… you know, different.”
Gu Shenwei smiled. They always said he was different, and most of the time it meant the negative way. If they really knew how different he was, they would be frightened to death.
“Before I leave, I have some rules to tell you.”
“Please.”
“First, don’t walk around casually. If you don’t know where you can go, then stay where you are. But keep yourself busy. Whenever the master calls you, you’ll run to him like a dog chasing a rabbit.”
“Yes.” Gu Shenwei thought he had been running much faster than a dog these past months.
“Second, don’t look around so much. You shall use your eyes to serve the master instead of satisfying your own self. You shall watch what your master is saying and doing, and don’t let them say too much.”
“Alright.” Gu Shenwei already had stricter demands for himself. He must implant a brand new idea in his master’s mind.
“Third, don’t talk casually. You should have slapped me immediately for what I said at that moment, and reported to your master.”
“Hmm, now I know. And I’ll do it next time.”
“Heh, heh, so many rules. Memorize these three first.”
“Thank you.”
Someone was calling Slave Ling’s name from outside. He held his package and prepared to leave. But he thought for a while, and said, “Sometimes I think you’re crazy. But I have to warn you not to mess with Master Yu.”
He had gone. Gu Shenwei now owned this cabin. He was thinking of the task Mama Xue gave him, forgetting about Shangguan Yushi, who was so jealous that she must be thinking of how to settle with him.”
As he was alone, the first thing he would do was break one of the three rules by “walking around casually.”
He lived in a corner of the garden. There were a dozen cabins like his where a bunch of animal trainers and some personal attendants of the twins all lived.
Gu Shenwei had met with those attendants, but they ignored each other as though they were strangers. There were more than 20 trainers, with sturdy frames and naked arms, who kept walking around, scoffing at the attendants.
The air smelled of animal urine, and the thunder-like roar came time and again.
Gu Shenwei ignored the beasts. He walked along the path, crossing many corners, and found the garden was truly not a place for a Lord: not too many exotic flowers, one could only see jagged rockery, withered pines and cypresses, and wrecked toys. The grassland was a total mess, it seemed the beasts had trampled on it.
The Inner Residence had left Gu Shenwei with an effeminate impression. He did not know the garden was so messy that it was almost a northern meadow, a meadow that was devastated.
Before he went too far in the northwest direction, Gu Shenwei found a yard with a low wall built by broken rocks that seemed like a shabby rockery. Behind it were several stone cabins, with little decoration, incompatible with the aesthetic of the whole residence. They were more like the cold structures outside.
A teenager Gu Shenwei had never met before jumped out from the tree alongside the path, with his palms outward, soundlessly forbidding the intruder to go forward.
Gu Shenwei understood and receded. The boy held a dagger. A real dagger.
Shangguan Ru and Shangguan Yushi were always in men’s wear. Gu Shenwei originally thought it was for the sake of the school, but now he had a different idea: In order to make these two girls masculine, people in the fort had been working tirelessly.
